God expects the Church to be an institution of evangelism. Christ came to
Earth to teach men the way of God. He gave this responsibility to His
apostles before leaving this Earth, and though the commission was given
directly to the eyewitnesses He personally chose, the spirit of this
admonition still prods us to carry the Good News to a lost and dying
world!
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I
am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen" (Matt 28:19-20,
NKJ).
These precious words of the Master to His holy apostles had a
ripple effect upon the entire church, for we find in Acts 8:1-4 that the
scattered believers went everywhere evangelizing the Jews (The door to
the Church had not yet been opened to the Gentiles - Acts 10). They had
found the cure for sin, which had kept people in bondage of fear of
death. They wanted to share the good news of salvation with everyone they
met. Just think if some doctor or scientist found the cure for aids or
some other terrible disease, it would be told everywhere. How much more
should we want to herald the good tidings of the freedom from sin? Sin
has plagued mankind since the Garden of Eden. Are we going to stand by
idly while the world rushes down hill to an everlasting punishment when
we have the answer, the cure, the brake to stop them, before they take
that eternal plunge into hell? (2 Thess. 1:8-9; 2 Pet 3:9-12; Jn 14:15).
If we love God, we will tell the story. If we love our neighbor
as ourselves, we will tell the souls that we know; that God loves them
and to prove His love, He sent His only begotten Son to die for their
sins, if they will only come to Him in humble obedience and surrender all
at the Savior's feet. (Jn. 3:16; Heb. 5:9). "And let us not grow weary
while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose
heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all,
especially to those who are of the household of faith" (Gal 6:9-10,
NKJ). What greater good can we do than to help someone find the Lord, and
save their soul?
It is the Church's responsibility to make the wisdom of God known
to the angelic realm, and the way this is done is by preaching and
teaching to those around us. When we do this the spiritual realm sees the
variegated wisdom of the great I Am. People don't care about how much you
know, until they know how much you care. We personally need to be dealing
with friends, family, coworkers, and neighbors one-on-one. There is no
substitution for personal involvement. "From whom the whole body, joined
and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the
effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of
the body for the edifying of itself in love" (Eph 4:16, NKJ). The work
of the Church is done by every individual Christian doing what he/she can
do. If we sincerely want souls to come to the Lord, we must ask them.
Many are just waiting to be asked. A national survey conducted among
adults who were not attending any church indicated that 25% would attend
a church if a friend ever took the time or effort to invite them
(Christian's Expositor-1994).
That's one out of every four adults. If those not attending church in the
United States amount to roughly 60 to 70 million people, that means 15 to
18 million people are waiting to be asked to go to church!
"But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly,
and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully" (2 Cor 9:6,
NKJ).
According to this principle, our reaping is in direct proportion
to how much we sow. If we want the Church to grow a lot, we must in turn
ask a lot of people to come and study with us the wonderful words of
life, whether it be with the assembly or a home Bible study.
The Church must be prepared to accept, embrace, and love souls
who are new converts. Becoming a Christian does not mean that one's life
will change instantly, but rather it is a progression that takes time,
will, and a lot of effort on one's part, and the Churches, and the Lord
will provide the rest. We must be prepared to help them deal with and
overcome certain problems such as their spouse not being a Christian yet,
drugs, alcohol, temper, etc. The stronger should be ready to assist the
weaker (1 Thess. 5:14, Gal. 6:1-2).
Many times we need to prepare ourselves for the struggle of
blending in with our new brothers and sisters in Christ. Sometimes,
because of being related to those in the congregation, or having a long
friendship, new Christians can feel left out. This is not intentional,
but we must be aware of this, and be more thoughtful, considerate, and
careful to involve our new members of the body of Christ in our social
life.
In conclusion, may every member of the body of Christ make a
continual commitment to invite a different person each week to come to a
Bible study with you or to meet with the Church with you as your guest.
If we do it out of love and personal concern, the Church that Christ gave
His life for will grow!
